Land for the Powerful: Property Violations in Aden

The city of Aden does not have natural resources or a history of domestic production; rather, the port has drawn resources into the city since the medieval era.[1] After 1839, the city emerged as an important trade hub for the British Crown, as the port’s strategic location served the empire’s commercial and economic interests, particularly as a link to India.[2] The construction of the Suez Canal. [...] In the aftermath of the 2015 Battle for Aden, which ended with government and Saudi-led coalition forces driving Houthi- Saleh forces out of the city, security forces and armed groups became the de facto authorities in the absence of a true government presence. [...] Nature reserves were claimed as corporate property and sold off ; 12 businessmen sold 84 plots of land which was owned by the city’s Public Water and Sanitation Authority; three businessmen registered the sale of 162 hectares of land which the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning had set aside for public housing; and the Aden Port Company privately sold land which belonged to the state in the Ad. [...] 17 Land for the Powerful: Property Violations in Aden Accordingly, the paper offers the following recommendations in an attempt to address the underlying causes of the land rights issues: • Building on efforts made during the past two years – including the issuing of a number of important decisions related to activating the work of the judicial organs and restructuring the Supreme Judicial Council. [...] This paper is part of a series of publications produced by the Sana’a Center and funded by the government of the Kingdom of The Netherlands.